The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Matchstick Cove, San Mateo County, California

1947

Minor White

(American, 1908–1976)
America
gelatin silver print
Image: 9.4 x 11.7 cm (3 11/16 x 4 5/8 in.)
Gift of Carl and Joan Schneider 2021.236
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Minor White, who moved to San Francisco in 1946, took a number of views of this craggy section of the California coastline not far from the city.

Description

This image reveals the individual components of this landscape—the waves, the sand, and the contours of the cliff faces—and how they flow together. Its sharp focus and dramatic contrasts of dark and light are quite different in mood White’s Matchstick Cove, San Mateo County, California, 1947, 1993.12. There the water covers the base of the cliffs and the fog rolls in, softening and obscuring the profiles of the more distant ones.
  • ?-2021
    Carl and Joan Schneider, Whitmore Lake, MI
    December 6, 2021
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Matchstick Cove, San Mateo County, California|url=false|author=Minor White|year=1947|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2021.236